United Way of Greenville County cuts its 2027 grant pool to $2 million and funds only ALICE work

United Way of Greenville County will award $2 million in one-year grants for 2027, down from $3 million a year, and will fund only programs serving ALICE households, The Post and Courier reported on October 26.

ALICE stands for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed: households that earn more than the federal poverty level but less than the local cost of basic needs. The United Way's request for proposals opened on October 19, and proposals are due November 13 at 11:59 p.m., according to its 2027 funding page.

What is changing?

The United Way is replacing multiyear awards to a fixed roster of partners with a one-year, open competition. Grants will run from $25,000 to $200,000 and may not exceed 20% of an applicant's total revenue, the funding page says. The money must add to an organization's existing funding, not replace it, and must be used only for ALICE households, which grantees must identify and track.

The United Way will also redirect up to $1 million toward direct assistance for families, the Post and Courier reported. Grantees will meet monthly as a cohort, and the United Way is forming an ALICE Lived Experience Council to guide the strategy.

"We are seeking the best ideas and strategies aligned with serving ALICE families in our community," Meghan Barp, the United Way's president and CEO, told the newspaper.

How does it compare with the last cycle?

The table below is our own comparison, built from the United Way's 2023 announcements and its 2027 request for proposals.

By our arithmetic, $2 million is a third less than the $3 million a year of the last cycle. At the $200,000 ceiling it would fund 10 grants; at the $25,000 floor, 80.

Why now?

In July the United Way told about 42 partner nonprofits to build their 2027 budgets without assuming its money, the Post and Courier reported in September. Barp said then that the old model had "plateaued." The paper reported that contributions to the United Way fell from almost $17.8 million in 2014 to about $12.1 million in 2024, and that its distributions to local nonprofits fell from roughly $8.5 million to $4 million. By our calculation, that is a 32% drop in giving and a 53% drop in grants.

The United Way's own need figures differ. Its funding page says 55,000 Greenville County households are ALICE, up 35% since 2010; the Post and Courier, citing the United Way, put the number at roughly 58,100, up 48%. We have not reconciled the two.

What other nonprofits can take from it

In our view, the clearest lesson is for the grantees. Barp told the paper that the United Way's money was under 4% of partners' budgets in three of four cases, yet the paper reported that the change left some nonprofit leaders scrambling for replacement funds. A grant renewed for years can start to look like core funding; boards should treat it as one funder's decision.

For applicants, the new rules reward data. A proposal must show how the grant moves specific households, so the budget and the tracking plan carry as much weight as the narrative; see a grant budget a program officer can read. Projects without their own 501(c)(3) can apply through a fiscal sponsor, with the 20% cap measured against the sponsor's revenue.